By Greg Perkins
First year head coach Scott Corum and his Joseph City Wildcats opened the season with a win, holding off Northland Prep 56-48 on Tuesday prior to the Thanksgiving break.
The Cats put together a strong first period, building a 13-point halftime cushion, then maintained that lead through the third period. After building as much as a 19-point lead early in the fourth some fatigue may have set in, allowing the Spartans back into the contest, but the final outcome was never really in doubt.
“I thought we played really well. We executed our man-to-man offense well, which forced them to go to a zone. We handled their zone pretty well also. I think we got a little tired and let them back into the game late,” said the coach.
“Jacob Fields took over the game for us down the stretch. Every time Northland tried to make a run at us Jacob would hit a big shot.
“I was pleased with our defensive effort, as well as our work on the boards,” Coach Corum concluded.
Fields scored 10 of his team high 18 points in the fourth quarter. T.J. Hendricks hit for 12 and Austin Bushman netted 11. Wyatt Johnson added 5 points and dished out six assists.
Northland 7 10 8 23 48
Joseph City 20 10 8 18 56
After hosting St. Johns on Tuesday, Joseph City will play at Williams in a regular season game tonight (Nov. 28). On Thursday they return to Williams for first round play in the Route 66 tournament, where they will face Yuma Catholic at 5 p.m. Three hours later, they will face the host team Williams for the second time in two days. The tournament continues through Saturday.
On Tuesday, Dec. 4, they will host Williams in another regular season contest.